Serving country and community

Joan Ortmann never planned on joining the military. But, all these years later, through her involvement with the American Legion, she is glad she did.

Ortmann was born in Denver, Colorado and raised in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She graduated high school in 1949.

Her family was what she called a “Quaker Oats Company family.” Several members of her family worked for the company, and after high school, she began working as a lab technician at Quaker. Then, a friend changed the course of Ortmann’s career.

“Betty called me, and she wanted to join the Air Force,” Ortmann recalled, “but she asked me to go along with her to the recruiter. She didn’t want to go alone.”

Ortmann joined her friend, and took all of the tests.

“The guy said that I might as well get a physical, since I’d done everything else. I passed the physical, but Betty didn’t. That’s how I ended up in the Air Force,” Ortmann said.

“I didn’t plan it, it was just a crazy, mixed-up moment. A crazy decision,” she added.

Ortmann spent her time in the Air Force as a parachute rigger during the Korean War. She was 20 years old when she started in 1950. She was stationed at Westover Air Force Base in Massachusetts and worked with Military Air Transport Command. She only ever served stateside.

“Back then, women didn’t go overseas to combat,” she said. “I took the place of another man who had gone over.”

Serving stateside proved to be adventure enough.

“I had lots of neat adventures,” Ortmann said. “Most all the things I did were exciting because I got to travel and see the U.S. There was a group of girls in the squadron with me, and we’d go see the sights.”

Her efforts didn’t go unnoticed, either.

“Two or three of the parachutes that were jumped... when the pilots came back, one gave me his wings. One gave me a fifth of scotch,” Ortmann remembered.

After leaving the Air Force, Ortmann attended the Cedar Rapids Business College. She married and had five children, a son and four daughters.

Her son retired after serving 41 years in the Air Force himself.

Ortmann first became involved with the American Legion 53 years ago in Lisbon, Iowa. In that first post, Cyclops Post 109, Ortmann worked her way through the ranks, holding every office. She was the first woman commander of that post.

When Ortmann became Commander of Cyclops Post 109, she learned the history of the Post’s name. It was named for the warship Cyclops, which vanished in the Bermuda Triangle in 1918, only two years after its commission. Three hundred and six crew members were on board when the ship disappeared. To this day, Ortmann wears her cap from Cyclops Post 109 to honor those men.

“The reason I’m so proud of the Legion is that it’s a service to the community. [In Iowa] they started the boy scouts, they gave scholarships, they always had a project. If there was ever a house fire, the Legion arrived with a check so the family could get the immediate necessities.”

Ortmann moved to Montana in 1983 and joined the Legion Post in Polson.

During her time in Polson, Ortmann once again served as Commander of the Post, and was once again the first woman to do so.

Along with being Commander of the Post, Ortmann was also Chairman of the committee that, with the help of members of the VFW and the Disabled Veterans, created a veteran’s cemetery in Polson. Ortmann also remembers the Legion starting up a baseball league during that time.

After retiring from the US Postal Service, where Ortmann worked as acting postmaster, or Officer in Charge, of three different offices, she moved to Columbia Falls. That was five years ago.

In her retirement, Ortmann spends her time quilting and talking to people.

“I go to the senior center,” she said. “I enjoy people, so I stop and talk to people. If anyone needs a helping hand I help.”

She is also still an active member of American Legion Freedom Post No. 72.

“I’m very proud of everything they’ve done. Everybody has been wonderful. It’s a great organization,” Ortmann said about the American Legion.

“It’s just nice to belong to it,” Ortmann said of the Post. “It’s a feeling of atmosphere and friendliness when you walk in. It’s a pleasure to belong.”